CFA

Open Air Burning Regulations - October 2017 only

The Mornington Peninsula Shire Open Air Burning Local Law regulates burning off outside of the Declared Fire Danger Period. During the month of October 2017, some open air burning restrictions have been relaxed to enable landowners to burn off for fire prevention purposes.

If you would like more information from the Shire on Burning Off in the outside the Fire Danger Period, please click here.

Shoreham Rural Fire Brigade - Key Roles 2016

The Shoreham Fire Brigade conducted their bi-annual election of office bearers on May 12, 2016. The following members were nominated and accepted the key roles.

Captain - Tony Wain

1stLieutenant - Alan Machin

2nd Lt. - Leigh Hopkins

3rd.Lt. - Rob. Patrick

4th. Lt. - Michael Wilding

Community Liaison Officer - (a new CFArequired position) Rob. Patrick

Secretary & Treasurer - John Lorkin

Apparatus - Mike Wilding

Communications - Sue Wilding

Training - Alan Machin

Health & Safety Officer - Dani Hulyer

Group Delegate - Tony Wain

VFBV - ( Volunteer Fire Brigades of Victoria) John Lorkin

President - Brian Alcock

Minute Secretary - Sue Wilding

The retiring Captain (Malcolm Nicolson) had advised the Brigade Management Team prior to the election that he would not be seeking re-election so that he could dedicate critical time to his PhD-Education. Malcolm has advised he will continue as a firefighter in the brigade. Malcolm joined the brigade in 1983 and was subsequently appointed as captain in 2001 a position he held until 2016. This 15 year term is the longest period as captain since the Brigade was established in 1949. Delivering strong leadership and commitment to the members and brigade during his captaincy, Malcolm achieved many goals during this long period including:

Increased membership.

Achievement of a strong and healthy financial position.

An improved Brigade structure

Completed various Leadership and Training Courses.

A significant increase in the number of qualified Tanker Drivers.

Lead various Training Courses including for example Advanced Pumping Method/Breathing Apparatus.

Was the key negotiator with the CFA over a considerable of time to gain the agreement to fund and build the new Fire Station which was officially opened in December 2014.

Over the period Malcolm was very successful in raising valuable donations by personal approach to generous donors in our community and various organizations. His service over 33 years - particularly as captain - is highly commendable and greatly appreciated by the Shoreham Fire Brigade.

Contact details

Shoreham Rural Fire Brigade activity - January 2016

It was heartening over January 2016 that with the difficult weather and vegetation conditions there has been almost no fire activity in Shoreham. One group of European backpackers lit a campfire on the beach and were suitably embarrassed. One hopes they have learned a lesson about how seriously we take the issue of fire in Australia in general and in Shoreham in particular.Most wildfire is caused by human activity of one type or another, so the situation in Shoreham is a reflection of the level of understanding of the issue of fire within the Shoreham community and a response which I believe is above the regulations and applies a common sense approach beyond what the law requires. We all benefit from our combined effort.That being said, the Shoreham Rural Fire Brigade has been busy over recent weeks with incidents both small and large. Fireworks started a fire at the hang glider ramp in Flinders which was promptly extinguished just after midnight on New Year’s Eve, thanks to the efforts of Flinders and Shoreham brigades. Yes, we can get a crew to respond at midnight on New Year’s Eve.On the 16th of January we turned out to a fire started by a tractor at Main Ridge. We contributed, along with at least 20 other appliances including a helicopter, to pulling this fire up before it got established in a eucalypt plantation. 8 of our fire fighters turned out to Main Ridge and our big fill (Defender ute) did a sterling job filling (about 60 fills) tankers. This fire started about 1pm and we returned home at 10.30 pm – a long shift by the time the fire was completely blacked out and safe.Monday the 18th saw us respond to the Crib Point fire with both our tanker and big fill. 17 of our members contributed to the effort to control that fire over 3 shifts. A further 4 of our members returned on Wednesday to continue the blacking out effort to make the area safe for the Crib Point community. Once again, our big fill did a magnificent job filling tankers from a dam. This was an important role as the pressure from the mains was very weak. Our big fill also has the advantage of being able to fill 2 tankers at a time which helps to keep tankers on the fire line for a greater percentage of the time.Of particular note were the efforts of 2 of our most recent and youngest recruits, Angus Machin and Theo Ducos, who performed really well. These have been great opportunities to put the extensive training they have received at the fire station into practice and build their experience base.Members of the Shoreham community should take pride in the efforts of the firefighters who make themselves available to defend other communities, safe in the knowledge that those communities will be at our shoulders should we need them. The community should also take pride in the fact that all of you have contributed financially to the big fill which has played such an important role in these fires. You have also contributed to the new station which provides the brigade with the best possible springboard from which to launch our defence of the Shoreham community and our neighbouring communities (and at times our not so near neighbours). We are constantly striving to improve our emergency response capability and appreciate the assistance of the community in those efforts.

Malcolm NicolsonCaptain – Shoreham Rural Fire Brigade

Shoreham's New Fire Station

Shoreham's new CFA station was officially opened in December 2014 by CFA Board member John Peberdy and OIC Mornington-Western Port, Arthur Haynes. Captain Malcolm Nicolson's speech reminded all of us of the importance of understanding the environment and of the strength of the community as he looked at some of the early days of the brigade and further back to pre-CFA fire management times.

Presentations were made to the following members:Calum Nicolson - 5 year certificateColin Fairlie - 15 year claspMalcolm Nicolson - 30 year medal and CFA Life Membership MedalMichael Wilding - CFA Life Membership MedalChristie Johnstone - Brigade Life Membership certificate. Malcololm spoke of Christie Johnstone's unique place in our Shoreham community at the presentation of Christie's certificate.

What Number Are You? ...and how would anyone else know?

You call the CFA or other emergency service, give your street and house number, but valuable time is wasted because your house does not have a clearly visible house number. The CFA requires all residents to put their house number on their house or fence for identification.